Life Precarious On The Sea's Cutting Edge $34,000 Dune Project A Race Against Nature

May 18, 1986|By Stephen Kindland of The Sentinel Staff

SATELLITE BEACH — Two beachfront homeowners whose property nearly washed into the ocean in September say the $34,000 they are spending to rebuild eroded dunes behind their houses could be a waste of money.

It is a race against nature's clock, they say. If another storm hits before the dunes have had time to redevelop, the two homeowners will have to start from scratch.

Ralph Lenoci, 789 Shell St., signed an $18,000 contract with Fort Pierce's Coastal Erosion Control in September to rebuild the dunes behind his home after overnight rain and strong winds left the house precariously sitting on a steep sandy slope.

Johney Johnson, Lenoci's neighbor to the south, signed a $16,000 contract with the company.

Neighbor Bill Cochran, who also contracted with Coastal Erosion Control, had applied jointly with the previous owners of the Lenoci and Johnson houses for state permits to replace a 250-foot concrete sea wall that was demolished during a three-day storm at Thanksgiving in 1984.

The request was denied. Department of Natural Resources officials said the sea wall, which protected the homes from falling into the ocean, would increase erosion on nearby unprotected beaches the agency is trying to save.

A second request, to build a rock revetment, also was denied. But seven months later, just five days before the September storm, the three received approval from DNR to allow Coastal Erosion Control to rebuild the beach by supporting it with 7-ton bags of sand buried where the sea wall had been. That project would have cost about $45,000.

During the five days before the storm, Cochran spent $10,000 to replace sand that had eroded since the Thanksgiving storm. Like the dune, his investment was washed away.

In addition, Lenoci has spent $6,500 to plant sea oats, sea grapes and other vegetation along the damaged dune to help keep the sand firm.

Johnson says he will spend about $4,000 for plants after enough sand accumulates behind his house.

He said that in the months it took DNR to grant its approval for the sandbag project, about $2,000 worth of sand behind his house ''just fell into the ocean.''

Johnson said he is frustrated with the bureaucracy.

''It cost me $2,000 for backfill due to the government dragging its feet,'' he said.

Though he admits another storm could wipe out the good that has been done, Johnson is confident the dune replacement project will work -- provided there are no major storms for a while.

Lenoci said he was aware of the Thanksgiving storm damage when he bought the house in August, but took the risk because it was his dream to own a beachfront home with his wife, Jeanne.

He said he would feel more secure if DNR had allowed them to rebuild the sea wall instead of using sandbags, which have drawn mixed reviews from beach experts across the state.

''It's my personal belief those bags are a scam,'' Lenoci said. ''I have no doubt if we get a bad storm those bags are gone.''

Lenoci said DNR seems inconsistent in the way it issues permits and that he and his neighbors should have been allowed to rebuild the sea wall because the effectiveness of the sandbag method has not been proved.

''It kind of hurts when the law is written against you,'' he said. ''It's very difficult to go along with government rules and regulations as a property owner.''

His wife said she feels powerless to change the situation.

''It's a definite concern,'' she said. ''You can get angry and you can get upset, but you can't do anything about it.''